Mt. Washington opening entire front side of mountain

Mount Washington Alpine Resort will be opening the Sunrise, Eagle, and Hawk chairs as well as all the Magic Carpets starting tomorrow. They are reporting that 68 of 81 trails will be open, which is all of the front side of the mountain, along with 23 km of Nordic and 3 km of marked snowshoe trails. The Tube Park will be open from 11 am to 9 pm beginning on Friday as well. The resort will open in full service mode including the snow school, ski and board rentals, retail stores and food and beverage outlets.

“With the storm we received Thursday and more on the way, we expect the conditions to continue to improve day by day,” reported Don Sharpe, Mount Washington’s Director of Business Operations. “This is the best opening conditions we’ve had in three years.” The resort’s grooming supervisor, James Clarke, explained, “The early season conditions are fantastic. The snow we received over the last week has set up a really good base. Our focus this week has been on getting slopes groomed for the opening, and we will begin building the Terrain Park as the opportunity arises.”

Nordic Supervisor Marc Lyster detailed the trail status with respect to the Nordic Area, “The trails above the Raven Lodge will all be skate groomed for the opening tomorrow, and we will work on track setting for Classic skiing next week. We will have 3 km of snowshoe trails marked as well. The trails in Strathcona Park should open after the next round of storms.”

Amidst the high level of activity and excitement at Mount Washington on Thursday, Sharpe did sound one note of caution, “Even though we have a great start this year, we are still in the early season, so as tempting as the side country and backcountry might look, we ask that our guests respect any closures and stay in bounds. Until there is a bit more snow coverage, even skilled skiers and boarders will find the open runs safer and plenty entertaining.”

Snow and trail conditions for Mount Washington can be found on www.mountwashington.ca or on the resort’s free app. Sharpe said video feeds for the website are live and web cams on the app are updated every five minutes.